Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist

Chapter 3

3 years ago

Ed sat there, his impatients getting to him. He tapped his foot on the ground as he waited for Nicolas to return. The man said he had something he had to do and that he and Al had to wait there but he has been gone for more than ten minutes and there was still no sight of him. Eventually he stood up and walked over to the fireplace on other side of the room. He stared at the strange artifacts on the mantle and each one looked like it belonged in a different time period.

He carefully picked up an odd metal coin. It was gold plated and uneven. There was a faint picture of a man on one side and an incomplete Transmutation circle on the other. The coin was cold to the touch and Ed placed it back down exactly where he had found it. He turned to pick one of the objects but apparently the edge was quite sharp and it sliced his finger. Ed dropped it in surprise and it shattered on the floor. He backed away trying to think of an excuse to why it happened. He shoved his bleeding hand into his pocket and headed back to where Al was. He sat down on the couch with a muffled thump and fiddled around with his automail. He made sure not to unscrew anything or Winry would mist likely kill him.

After several more minutes Nicolas walked into the room and looked from Ed to Al. He didn't say a word as he sat down on the couch. He directed his gaze to Ed but still said nothing. Ed was confused but waited as patiently as he could for Nicolas began to talk. When he said not a single word Ed started instead.

"So why are we still here anyway?" Ed demanded. He waited for Nicolas to reply but the man still wouldn't talk. "Aren't you going to answer me?" He was getting agitated now and he wasn't sure of how much longer he would be able to sit there without going crazy.

"You two are trying to restore your bodies back to normal," he said casually. Ed looked up and stared directly at him. He knew that he had automail and Al was only a lost soul but the two of them had never told him about the reason they wanted the Philosopher's Stone. So how did he find out?

"I'm guessing that I'm right," Nicolas said with no emotion in his voice. He had a straight face as he talked, showing no emotions or giving anything away.

Ed clenched his metal fist. "You. How did you find out?" He growled through clenched teeth. His anger was growing with every passing second that he sat there staring at Nicolas. His golden eyes danced with an undying fire he's had stored away since he first met Roy. He wanted to punch Nicolas no badly in his damn face but he didn't know what the man was capable of, with or without the Philosopher's Stone.

"It was simple really." Nicholas paused and stared Ed hard in the eye. "I contacted your father some weeks ago and he told me everything." He narrowed his eyes. "I also heard that you tried to Transmute your mother. Is that true?"

Ed didn't answer. Instead, he looked away and avoided eye contact. He stood up, deciding that he's had enough of the damn place and headed for the door. He was pulled back by Nicolas who stared him directly in the eyes. Is gaze didn't once waver and he stared Ed down with his stormy gray eyes that looked like they could see everything. Ed felt uneasy, it looking like he was seeing into his very soul. The blond pulled his arm away from Nicolas and took a step away.

"Come on Al," Ed called. He heard Al stand up and the blond turned away from Nicolas, walking towards the door to get as far from the man as possible He just about reached the door when he heard Nicolas call him from the other side of the room. Ed risked it and turned, only to find Nicolas standing beside the fireplace, looking down at the broken artifact on the floor. Ed's heart lept into his throat and he made a dash for the door, but before he got there he suddenly lost all the feeling in his flesh leg and went tumbling to the floor, landing hard on his side.

It felt like his throat was closing shut and he scooped in a ragged breath before letting out several terrible coughs. Another cough racked his body and he struggled to push himself up. Suddenly he was lifted into the air and then placed back onto the couch. He coughed again and felt someone's hands on his chest. He slowly gained the feeling in his flesh and could breathe normally again.

"You damn kid," Nicolas scolded. "You shouldn't have hid the fact that you cut yourself on the glass. You do know it's toxic, right?"

Ed coughed again. "No, how should I know the damn glass is toxic?" he retorted in a dry, scratchy voice that sounded weird even to him.

"You're staying here the night," Nicolas decided. "You can sleep in here. I want to keep an eye on you incase the toxins spread."

Ed didn't complain. Anywhere was better than that dusty old hotel they were staying in. The only problem was he's already payed to stay there, and it was more than half his money. He frowned slightly but hid it quickly. "But my stuff's at the hotel."

"Your brother will get it for you. You need to rest," Nicolas told him.

"What? I'm fine, see." He pushed himself up but his arms buckled beneath him and he landed back on the couch with a soft thump. His head pounded and he forced his eyes shut. He didn't know why he felt like this but he felt his face reddening in embarrassment. He hated acting weak and he couldn't even push himself up on the couch.

"Brother, you rest. I'll get out stuff at the hotel," Al spoke up. Ed heard his clanging armor leaving the room and he struggled to sit up but Nicolas pushed him back down again.

"Stop moving. I only slowed down the toxins that are spreading through your body. Any movement will cause it to spread faster." Nicolas kept his hand placed firmly on his shoulder to prevent Ed from moving. The blond released a sigh and wished that he never touched that damn piece of glass in the first place.

"I hate this," Ed muttered bitterly under his breath. He hated sitting around doing nothing, now he wasn't even allowed to move. It was pure agonizing torture that had no end to it. Slowly Ed's fingers began to feel numb and the feeling spread up his arm. He let out a soft groan and Nicolas removed his grip on his shoulder. He helped the mostly numb Ed sit up and handed him a glass of water.

"Here, drink this." He offered him the glass.

Ed coughed and took the cool glass in his numb hands. He drank it quickly. It tasted like water until the aftertaste kicked in. He gagged and nearly dropped the glass. His face went pale at the taste and he hunched over, wishing that the damn taste would go away.

"That was not water," Ed groaned. "You lied to me."

"I only told you to drink it. I don't recall ever telling you that it was water," Nicolas explained, making Ed wish that he paid more attention to what people told him. "Anyway, that should stop further spread of the toxins. You should still rest so it doesn't start spreading again. I think you'll be fine in the morning." Nicolas grabbed a blanket and laid it over Ed. "Now get some sleep."

Ed silently agreed and allowed his eyelids to drop down. He didn't like sleeping on some random guy's couch but he had no other choice. He couldn't even lift his limbs enough to see them. He was perfectly still as he drifted off, a bit unwillingly, into a dreamless sleep.

Ed awoke feeling hot. He rolled over and groaned. His head pounded and he felt sick to his stomach. he didn't know why he felt like that but he wished that it would go away.

"You're up late," a familiar voice said from somewhere off to one side of the room. Ed looked around and spotted Nicolas pulling back the curtains on the window, blinding Ed with the harsh light that shone brightly into the room. He blinked a few times to chase away the spots that danced across the vision and by the time he was done Nicolas was sitting on the couch beside him.

"How do you feel?" He asked, looking down at him.

"I've felt better," Ed mumbled incoherently. He shut his eyes tight but opened them again a moment later when he heard someone at the door. It took a while for his blurry vision to even out but when it did he saw Al standing there.

"How's brother?" He asked with an air of nervousness to his voice.

"His fever's going down. He should be fine soon." Nicolas glanced at him and then directed his stormy gaze back to Alphonse. "I was able to successfully able to remove the toxins from his body so he'll live. He's free to leave once his fever breaks."

Al nodded his metal head with a loud clang that sent a spark of pain shooting through his head. He winced and held his head with his hand. Nicolas must have noticed his great discomfort because he turned to look down at him.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"My head feels like it's gonna explode," Ed muttered. He groaned and rolled over on the couch. He felt around for the blanket and after a few struggled minuted he had managed to successfully pull the blanket over his head. All he wanted to do was sleep but he doubted that would be very likely. His head hurt too much to think, let alone relax enough to fall asleep. However, his theory was wrong and he was snoring within minutes after the thought passed through his mind.

Present time

"Hey Ed, wake up," a voice called out, breaking into his dream. Ed opened one groggy eye and saw Al staring at him with curiosity shining in his light golden eyes. Ed let out a long dramatic groan and rolled over, wishing that he was still sleeping. He was really tired for some reason.

"Ed," Al spoke up again, louder than before. Ed looked at his brother tiredly and yawned involuntarily. "What were you dreaming about?"

Ed sat up and swept his golden gaze across the room. The window was shut, the curtains were covering the window. But the door was open. "Al, can you shut the door for a minute?"

Al nodded and shut the door without asking why. He headed back to Ed and stood there. Ed pushed himself up and indicated for Al to sit on the bed, it was better than him looking down at him. Ed was short enough as it was, he didn't need to be reminded that he was several inches shorter than his younger brother.

He hesitated. He knew he had to tell Al, it was his past to. He finally brought up the courage and dived face-first into the well detailed story. Nicolas inviting them into his house, the very old picture of Van Hohenheim on the wall, the glass and the toxins. He finished telling the story out of breath and noticed that Al looked shocked at what he had just heard.

Al opened his mouth to speak but all of his words were lost and he could only manage to gawk. "So you're saying that Nicolas knows dad? But how?"

Ed shrugged. "I don't really care how he knows that bastard, it's not important." He pushed the dream aside when his stomach growled. His face turned red. "So, you got any food?"

Al sighed. It was just like Ed to abandon a conversation for something so stupid, so childish. Not like he would ever tell him though, he would probably get a big beating. Ed's stomach growled again as he patiently waited for Al to answer.

"The Colonel made breakfast about a half hour ago. He saved you some so you can-"

Ed grabbed his crutch and was out the door before Al could finish his sentence. He was getting use to walking on the crutch despite that he started yesterday. He walked down the stairs carefully but fell down the last couple steps and landed on his face. He swore in frustration and felt someone kneeling down beside him.

"Brother, are you okay?" Al asked, his voice high-pitched with concern.

Ed turned his angered golden gaze to glare at the wooden stairs that were just sitting there mocking him for falling. "You damn bastard, I'll get you back soon. Just you wait."

Al gave him a look that said: 'why are you talking to the stairs?' The younger Elric shook his head and Ed directed his attention to standing back up. He was getting stronger but he was still fairly weak, and that annoyed him. He pushed himself up and only succeeded because Al helped him. The blond leaned on his crutch for a moment as he waited to catch his breath that he lost when he tried to stand.

Ed smelled something...bacon! He detected that the smell was coming from the kitchen and he took off at a fast pace, well, a slower pace than Al, to get to the kitchen. He finally reached it and saw Roy hovering over the stove that was making sizzling noises. Ed's mouth watered and he walked behind Roy and looked over the General's shoulder. The truth was he was standing beside the General and looking over his arm. He wanted to believe that he was tall and his imagination got the better of him. No surprise there.

"Good morning, Fullmetal," Roy greeted without tearing his dark eyes off the pan of popping bacon.

"That for me?" Ed asked . Hopefully it was for him, he was starving. The General nodded and Ed stared at the bacon with an avaricious gleam in his eyes. He watched as Roy removed each crispy piece of bacon from the pan and put them onto a clean plate. He poured a large glass off orange juice and placed both onto the wooden table with a clink.

"Ed, eat quickly," Roy told him with no emotion in his dark eyes. "I have to leave for work soon and Hawkeye's going to come to watch the two of you."

"What?" Ed shouted in disbelief. What Roy said to him seriously angered him. "I'm eighteen now, I don't need a damn babysitter."

Roy fixed Ed with his cold stare and Ed glared back. Roy averted his eyes from Ed and sighed. "You're not staying here alone. It's not safe." There was something to his voice, something that Ed just couldn't point out. Then it came to him. There was an edge of nervousness to the General's voice, the one emotion that he rarely showed.

"Just listen to him," Al told him. It was there too. Al was trying to conceal the same hurt tone in his voice. They knew something that Ed didn't, something important. He was positive now, something was wrong, something was terribly wrong.

"There's something you're not telling me," Ed said suddenly, jolting Roy and Al back to the world. The General and Al exchanged a look full of fear and a silent message was passed between them even though neither uttered a single word. It was like the two of them had developed a strong bond during the time Ed was unconsciousness, a bond in which they could understand one another just by looking at each other in the eye. Soon after the message was received the two of them turned back to face Ed.

"Ed, please don't do anything reckless after hearing this," Roy asked him. When Ed nodded he released a breath and said quite reluctantly, "There is a murderer that has been going around Central City. He's been torturing children that are between the ages of 8 and 15."

Ed was outraged. How could someone go around and torture children? Ed clenched his fists and fixed the General with a cold, hard look. "Are you doing anything about it?"

Roy nodded. "We're doing everything in our power to stop it. But every time we get one step closer he slips out of our grasps. It's been going on for three years, right after you were admitted to the hospital."

Ed gritted his teeth and squeezed his crutch until his knuckles turned white. He was full of rage. How dare someone do something so atrocious? Ed wanted more than anything to punch that person in their damn face but he promised Roy that he wouldn't do anything reckless. Who cares. Being reckless wasn't always a bad thing, right?

"Fullmetal, I know you're planning something," Roy spoke up. Ed looked up and saw the General staring down at him with concern in his eyes. "Stop where you are. You told me that you wouldn't do anything stupid, or did you forget?"

Ed swore under his breath and loosened his tight grip on the crutch so his knuckles turned tan instead of white. His emotions were torn. He wanted to listen to the General but he couldn't let any more children get hurt. He was stuck at a crossroad with no idea which way to go. Each trail held a different consequence that he would have to withstand. He didn't know what direction to go until he saw that the path branched out in three different directions, each trail having it's own future of either light or darkness. He saw a bright future ahead and began to walk down the third one, the one with a future of hope and victory.

He was going to defeat the murderer and stay true to his promise at the same time. It was possible, he just needed to do it. He fixed Roy with his golden gaze that danced with strength and pride. "I said I wont do anything reckless but I'm not going to forget abut what you told me. I'm going to help figure out who the culprit is and put an end to their barbaric schemes."

"Very well," Roy said. Ed was thoroughly surprised. The General was actually letting him investigate into the case further. It wasn't like him, was something else going on? Ed hid his surprise quickly. He didn't know why, he just felt like he had to.

Ed nodded and walked across to eat the bacon that he's been dying to eat since he started the conversation. He heard laughter as he shoveled the delicious food into his mouth. The flavors were alive and sharp. They danced across his tongue and through his mouth. He ate the plate of bacon in a few famished bites before gulping down the juice and leaning back in the chair. He heard the sharp laughter again and he twisted his head to glare at Roy and Al.

"What are you two laughing at?" Ed demanded with barley concealed anger. Roy Al continued to laugh. Their constant laughter prevented either of them from answering Ed's question causing the blond to rapidly fill with anger until he snapped and threw his crutch at Roy. It hit the older man in the head and that stopped his laughter.

"Ed, what did you do that for?" He demanded. Now it was Ed's turn to laugh. He howled in laughter until his chest began it hurt and he couldn't breath. There were tears of laughter in his golden eyes that threatened to spill but he held them back. Laughter or pain, it didn't matter Tears were tears and for that fact Ed refused to let them spill out of him eyes.

Roy wasn't mad, in fact he looked frustrated. He stood there with crossed arms and a tapping foot. Ed decided that it was best to stop laughing before the General pulled out his ignition gloves and Ed was turned into a pile of ash. He had a hard time trying to stifle his never-ending laughter. He can't eve remember why he's laughing now, he just was. He could see Roy's anger boiling and eventually the older man sighed in defeat.

"Ed, if you don't stop laughing I'll-"

Just then there was a knock on the door loud enough to hear above Ed;s constant laughter. Roy disappeared from the room and Ed was finally able to stop laughing. He was trying to remember why he was laughing in the first place when Hawkeye walked onto the room. They looked at each other for a minute before Hawkeye smiled at him gently.

"Nice to see you back," She said politely. In her voice Ed detected a faint trace of relief. Why was she relieved?

Ed nodded and smiled back. "It's nice to be back." He met Hawkeye's brown eyes and saw a great kindness in them. Soon Roy waved bye and departed from the house, leaving Hawkeye to watch over the two brothers. Ed rose from the chair and leaned on his crutch. He forced out a yawn. He wasn't tired, not even close. But he had to find out more about his past, the forgotten past. He needed to find out. He had to.

"I'm gonna take a nap. Don't wake me," Ed mumbled, using the best tired voice he could manage. He hated thinking that he was wasting his life sleeping when he's been sleeping for the past three years, but he had to find out. He could make up for the lost time some other day. He was getting more accustom to using the crutch and found it easier to move around. It was still tiring but hopefully he would be able to walk on his own soon. It was better than being carried everywhere in his opinion.

He shut his bedroom door and looked it so nobody could get in before hobbling over to his bed and collapsing into it. He dropped the crutch to the floor and pulled the blanket over his head, rolling over to his sighed he willed sleep to come.

He was there for roughly twenty minutes before he finally found himself in some void between conscious and unconsciousness, waiting to be fully absorbed in one or the other. At long last he found himself fully absorbed in the void of sleep. He didn't know why he was able to fall asleep so easily but he was glad he did. He walked through the darkness before seeing a light and his hidden past open up in front of him.

3 years ago

Ed rolled over and a groan escaped his lips. He felt horrible, his head pounded and every muscle ached. It was terrible. He officially regretted ever toughing that damn piece of glass. If he wasn't so curious he wouldn't be there right now. Lying sick on some random persons couch. He was going to think twice before letting touching anything peculiar, doing so only leads to suffering.

"Brother, are you awake?' Al's ringing metallic voice asked. He sounded far away, like he was submerged beneath thick waves of water. Maybe he was. Ed began to picture his brother sitting in a fish tank and he knew that there was something wrong with him. Why was he picturing a seven foot suit of armor sitting in a fish tank? It must be because of his fever. Yes, that's it. His fever's making him think things. Still, he couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of it.

"Brother, why are you laughing?" Al's voice asked him.

"You're sitting in a fish tank," Ed mumbled. Well, that wasn't how he was suppose to say it. Now he just sounded crazy.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Al asked. Ed was positive that Al now thought he was going crazy. Ed just nodded his head dumbly.

"How is he?" Nicolas' voice asked. Ed heard footsteps echoing through the room, growing closer and closer with each step. Ed had a feeling that he was standing with Al, possibly in the fish tank as...there wasn't a fish tank in the middle of the room. He had to remember that.

"He's talking nonsense," Al informed.

"'M not talkin' nonsense," Ed mumbled incoherently. He smelled coffee and he wrinkled his nose in disgust. He usually enjoyed coffee but he didn't know why it smelled so outrageously horrid at the moment. The smell dissipated and Ed risked it and opened his eyes He was still in Nicolas' living room and there was indeed no fish tank in the room. Maybe was was going crazy? He blamed the fever, that was the only reasonable explanation.

"Just as I feared," A voice said. It sounded far away and Ed had to strain to hear it. "Alphonse, can I speak to you in the other room?"

There wasn't a reply but Ed heard the sound of footsteps and clanking metal an knew that they were abandoning him. He pushed himself up, ignoring his screaming muscles, and looked around the room. It was too dark to see and he gave up and leaned against the back of the couch and let out a sharp irritated sigh. He saw a door opening off to one side of the large room and yellowish light spilled into the room, chasing away the darkness that formerly dominated that area of the room. Al ran over to him and wrapped him in a bone crushing hug.

"Al. You're breaking me," Ed gasped out. Al eventually let go and Ed rubbed his aching side. His younger brother could hug hard. Ed looked up at Al in confusion. "Uh, Al. Why did you just randomly hug me?" Stupid question but he was confused.

"It's nothing important," Al said quickly. Ed looked hard at Al for a minute and knew immediately that something was wrong. Seriously wrong.

"I know you're lying," Ed said, crossing his arms over his chest. Ever since he was younger he was able to tell when Al was lying. The way his voice shook was a dead giveaway. It was as hard as steel with a high percentage of carbon to get answers out of him though. He often spent hours trying to get him to admit something and most of the time Al refused to talk.

"I'm not lying," Al protested. His voice was shaking and Ed was now positive that he was hiding something. Something that most likely concerned him. A shudder passed through his body and he suddenly felt unusually tired. He had to get Al to tell the truth before he passed out again.

He racked his brain trying to think of a way but nothing came. All of the energy in his body was suddenly sapped away and he hunched over, trying as hard as he could to stay awake. He had to do it now.

"Alphonse, tell me what you're hiding now." Ed fixed his younger brother with questioning golden eyes. "Or I'll never forgive you."

Al took a step back. Good, he got to him. Al looked nervous. Well, he didn't have expressions but Ed could tell that he was nervous just by the way he was standing. His body stiff and leaning slightly to the right. Ed just had to keep applying pressure. It was like an open wound that he needed to close. Enough pressure and he'll succeed.

"Al, please tell me," Ed said using the best hurt voice he could manage. He looked at Al with large puppy-dog eyes and his brother finally collapsed beneath the pressure Ed was putting him under.

"You absorbed a Philosopher's stone into your bloodstream when you cut your finger on the glass," Al said quickly. "You now have Philosopher's Stone inside you."

A/N...And I finally posted a chapter. It's been about six months since I posted chapter 2. Well, the truth is, I've been debating with myself about whether or not I should stop writing this story. It's been so long since the last update that I'm unsure if anyone's still reading this. I have a good chunk of this story written, but have not a bit on inspiration to continue writing this story. I appreciate everyone who reviewed last chapter, and I really don't want to end it. If anyone still wants to read this story just write a review to let me know that I should keep writing this story (any review, really. Even a 'please update' is good enough. I don't even care about how many reviews I get. Five would be nice, but anything I get, no matter how small, will get me to continue writing this story.)

Well, that's about it. I didn't proof read or anything, so just be warned about the odd mistakes that make no sense. I wrote this chapter so long ago that I forgot what it's about. Well, I'd love to hear your guy's opinions about whether or not you want me to continue writing this story. Anything will help!

Well, good-bye for now!